The way people express their symptoms is shaped by their language and culture. Part of my job as a physician is to embrace that.
The way people express their symptoms is shaped by their language and culture. Part of my job as a physician is to recognize and embrace that as part of providing culturally competent care. Language can be an essential part of building the doctor-patient relationship; only when this is established will people feel safe to disclose more sensitive health issues. This is when that stomach pain a patient has been coming to you about for several months reveals itself as anxiety from a domestic abuse situation. This is when your patient who keeps presenting for depressive symptoms and sleep issues opens up about their substance abuse.
If the Quebec government wants to protect French language and culture, it should consider focusing on education. Ensure that elementary schools are safe and adequately staffed. Invest in social workers and youth mental health support so that children can finish high school.
There are so many ways to engage with Québécois culture that don’t make people feel as though they are being punished. While I think it is devastating for a native Montrealer to not know enough French to order a pizza, oppressive laws on health care and public services are not going to convince people to learn French. If anything, they will have the opposite effect and will deter some people from engaging in anything in French. Embracing culture and language happens organically through friendships and social activities, not through feeling as if one is under scrutiny in one’s place of work.
Seeing a doctor is scary enough as it is, and caring for critically ill patients is challenging enough with the limited resources we have. Je vous en prie, please do not use our fragile health-care system as a political platform to push a language agenda.
Laura Sang is a family physician who trained at McGill University and is practising in the southern Laurentians.